1. Field of the Present Invention
This invention relates generally to the television industry, and specifically to application programs being developed for programmable television controllers.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The television industry is currently experiencing a fundamental technological transition from analog to digital. This transition will undoubtedly yield many exciting new applications and services for television users. It also threatens to diminish television users' control over their experiences in the television medium—where they have traditionally been afforded a very high degree of control.
In contrast to analog television, digital television can be dynamic and interactive. Audiovisual presentations in the digital television medium are intimately interrelated with sophisticated computer programming, data processing and bi-directional digital communications. Digital television users will have increasingly personalized user experiences, driven by technologies that are increasingly mysterious to them.
The present invention is offered as a solution to help mitigate loss of user control in the digital television environment. Pursuant to offering a sufficient description of the present invention, a comprehensive review of the relevant prior art in the digital television medium is provided herein.
Digital Television Distributors
Digital television distributors include digital cable television providers, satellite television providers, and all other subscription-based television service providers, whether wired or wireless. Current examples of digital cable television providers include AT&T-Comcast, Cox, Charter and Time/Warner Broadband. Current examples of satellite television providers include DirecTV and the Dish Network.
Receiving service from a television distributor requires a specialized terminal device. This terminal device is typically referred to in the industry as a “receiver,” “settop box,” or “converter box.” Television terminal devices were formerly analog in nature, simply receiving and decoding-analog television waveforms. Currently, all new terminal devices being deployed are digital in nature, although they typically contain some analog components.
Digital terminal devices can receive, decode and process digital bit streams as well as analog waveforms. They are essentially special-purpose personal computers—they can load and execute software applications, transmit data upstream over the distributor's service network, and interface with other digitally networked devices in the home. For the purposes of this document, digital terminal devices will be called “programmable television controllers.”
The general concept of a programmable television controller is intended to include any programmable device that has connectivity to the digital television infrastructure, and that has the ability to generate audiovisual presentations and interfaces for a television user. This includes devices such as digital video recorders or home gateway controllers, in addition to digital settop boxes.
Prior Art FIG. 100 shows a typical television distributor proprietary network (100a). Individual programmable television controllers (100c) each use a communications processor (100e) to connect to a common distributor-subscriber interface (100b), via a bi-directional communications infrastructure (100d).
A distinct distributor-subscriber interface (100b) exists for each cable television system and for each satellite television uplink. Cable television systems serve anywhere from dozens to hundreds of thousands of subscribers, and are largely based on community or municipal boundaries. Each major satellite television uplink serves millions of subscribers, and is limited geographically only by the extent of the corresponding satellite's footprint.
The only difference between Prior Art FIG. 100 and Prior Art FIG. 101 is the literal extent of the television distributor proprietary network (100a), and thus the extent, in principle, of the television distributor's right to exercise ownership or control. In Prior Art FIG. 100, the television distributor owns the programmable television controller (100c), having leased or loaned it to the subscriber. In Prior Art FIG. 101, the subscriber owns the programmable television controller (100c), having purchased it from the television distributor or from a retail establishment. Both cases routinely occur in practice.
Prior Art FIG. 102 shows greater detail for the bi-directional communications infrastructure (100d) deployed by digital television distributors. Television distributors subdivide their communications infrastructure into various “segments” based on, for example, the frequency or amplitude of signal transmissions.
Digital television distributors provision most of these segments to carry broadcast downstream communications (102a) or targeted downstream communications (102b) to subscribers. Broadcast downstream communications (102a) are equally accessible to all subscribers, and are selected at will by each subscriber.
Targeted downstream communications (102b) are specifically “addressed” to one or more specific programmable television controllers (100c), and are therefore presented or made accessible to the associated subscribers only. The addressing of targeted downstream communications (102b) is based essentially on unique electronic identifiers for each distinct programmable television controller (100c).
Digital television distributors, with the exception of a few early satellite deployments, also provision upstream communication segments to carry targeted upstream communications (102c) from individual programmable television controllers (100c) to systems or devices beyond the distributor-subscriber interface (lob). With digital cable television technologies, upstream communications segments are provisioned on the same physical cable as downstream communication segments. With satellite television technologies, upstream communications segments typically use subscribers' analog telephone lines, while downstream communications segments use the satellite's one-way broadcast bandwidth.
The distributor-subscriber interface (100b) provides connectivity between programmable television controllers (100c) and a wide variety of networked resources. Prior Art FIG. 103 is a generalized illustration of these resources, both within the television distributor proprietary network (100a), and beyond in external public or private networks (103g).
Broadcast streams (103a) are either licensed retransmissions of external broadcast streams (103e) from external broadcast sources (103f), such as CNN, HBO or MTV; or transmissions of distributor broadcast streams (103c) generated locally from distributor broadcast sources (103d), such as community channels or locally inserted advertisements. Both external broadcast streams (103e) and distributor broadcast streams (103c) can be processed or modified prior to broadcast by the television distributor using one or more broadcast stream processing (103b) technologies.
One or more distributor network interfaces (103i) provide connectivity between the distributor-subscriber interface (100b) for subscriber data communications (103h), the distributor application infrastructure (103k) for distributor data communications (103j), and the external application infrastructure (103n) for external data communications (103m).
The distributor application infrastructure (103k) covers a wide range of specialized systems including subscriber management systems, conditional access systems, pay-per-view systems, video-on-demand systems, and other systems used for local applications and services, such as interactive program guides.
The external application infrastructure (103n) is at least as broad as the Internet, and its associated digital assets are at least as comprehensive. Television distributors are keenly interested in controlling connectivity between their subscribers and these external resources. Such control would protect their ability to capitalize on the demand for that connectivity, thus avoiding the dilemma of telephone companies—who carry a great deal of Internet traffic without any direct compensation.
The most significant opportunities for innovation in the digital television environment apply to digital television distributors, as defined above. While over-the-air broadcast television networks will also be making the transition to digital broadcasting over the next few years, they lack an integrated, upstream communications channel from their viewers. This will prevent them from implementing many new digital television applications and services. Conversely, television distributors possess bidirectional communications capabilities with their subscribers. This will enable them to deploy a wide array of digital applications and services.
Television Subscribers
The term “subscribers”—also referred to herein as “users,” “viewers,” or “the audience”—specifically includes television users who have entered into a service contract with a television distributor.
Prior Art FIG. 200 shows a local audience subset's (200a) connectivity with a programmable television controller (100c) at the technical component level. The local audience subset (200a) is comprised of one or more individual television users. The local audience subset (200a) interacts (200b) with the programmable television controller (100c) using a user input device (200c).
User input devices (200c) in the television environment typically take the form of a handheld remote control, or in some cases a wireless keyboard. Both of these devices send audience interaction data signals (200d) to a user input processor (200e) associated with the programmable television controller (100c), typically using infrared signals.
At the heart of the programmable television controller (100c) is a program processor (200f), which executes application programs and provides access for the application programs to the communications processor (10e), the user input processor (200e), an internal storage device (200g), and a display processor (200i). One or more conditional access filters (200h) may filter incoming broadcast streams (103a), and transmit the filtered broadcast streams (103a′) to the display processor (200i).
Finally, the display processor (200i) generates display output signals (200j), which are transmitted to a television display device (200k), typically via physical connection cables. The display device (200k) then generates audiovisual presentations and interfaces (200m) for the local audience subset (200a), completing the cycle of interaction.
Another possible configuration of these components is illustrated in Prior Art FIG. 201, which shows both a programmable television controller (100c′) and a display device (200k′) contained within an integrated media device (201a).
Prior Art FIG. 202 shows a common layout of navigation buttons on a television user input device (200c). The directional buttons (202b, 202d, 202c and 202e) move the cursor—the currently active area of the television display—either up, down, left or right, respectively. The location of the cursor, which is generally indicated by some type of obvious on-screen highlight, determines the resulting action if the “Select” button (202a) is pressed. The “Select” button (202a) might also display the caption “OK” or “Enter,” and is roughly equivalent to the “Enter” key on a computer keyboard, or to a computer mouse click (or double-click, depending on the navigation environment). This basic navigation paradigm provides a basis for interactivity in the television environment.
Prior Art FIG. 203 shows how a programmable television controller (100c) can be connected to a local networked device (203b) at the subscriber's premises via a local communications network (203a). The programmable television controller (100c) uses a communications processor (10e′), which is identified as 100e′ since it may be distinct from the communications processor (10e) shown in Prior Art FIG. 100.
Possible local networked devices include personal computers, home entertainment components such as video recorders, or any other “wired” components or appliances. A common futuristic home entertainment scenario has the whole house connected electronically to some incarnation of a “home entertainment hub,” which for all intents and purposes could be a programmable television controller (100c).
Prior Art FIG. 204 shows another common method for interacting with a programmable television controller (100c) using a removable storage device (204a) such as a solid-state electronic “smart card,” or a portable optical or magnetic storage disc. These devices can be inserted or removed (204b) at will, and can be used to do things such as load software applications, verify subscriber identification, facilitate transactions, or store various types of television-related data.
Prior Art FIG. 205 shows the composition of the local audience superset (205a) from which the local audience subset (200a) can be tallied at any given time. The local audience superset (205a) includes at least one television user—an administrative user (205b) that is generally responsible for configuration and maintenance of the programmable television controller. The local audience superset (205a) might also include one or more additional audience members (205b′), collectively representing the local non-administrative audience superset (205a′).
The size and composition of a local audience subset (200a) can be very dynamic, sometimes changing from one minute to the next. These seemingly trivial factors assume great importance when attempting to quantify or characterize the “universal” television audience, which is the combination of all local audience subsets (200a) for a given television program or time period.
Digital Television Applications and Services
The traditional television environment provides television users with a high degree of control over their television viewing experiences. Each television subscriber receives a multiplicity of channel broadcasts, each of which can be selected and presented on the subscriber's television, without modification from the distributor's point of transmission. If they wish to view a specific channel, they simply select it. If they do not wish to view a specific channel, they simply select another channel, or turn off the television altogether. Given the qualification that subscribers can choose different packages of channels—or on-demand programs—with their subscription, they all have access to precisely the same television content, and they can use it however they please.
While the growing digital television infrastructure provides a basis for many new applications and services, most of these technologies are in their formative stages. The revolutionary impact of digital technologies in the television environment has yet to be fully experienced. Furthermore, the nature of that impact on the television environment—whether primarily positive or negative—has yet to be determined. It is currently being left primarily for television distributors to determine, based largely on each new technology application's potential for profitability.
Most of the new technologies being developed will involve application programs (or simply “applications”), which are packages of computer code transmitted to and executed on programmable television controllers (100c). Some notable application programs that have the potential to impact television subscribers include television usage monitoring applications (300c), and interactive television applications (302d).
Television usage monitoring and recording produces valuable audience measurement data that can be aggregated and packaged for sale to media buyers. Television usage data can also be employed in selecting or targeting content for automated content presentation to specific viewers or audiences.
The interactive television environment will support a wide range of information, entertainment, and commerce options for television users.
Generally, usage monitoring is being developed specifically to minimize disruption to the traditional viewing experience. In other words, viewers won't necessarily realize the application programs are operating, or that they even exist.
Conversely, interactive television capabilities will dramatically and intentionally change and disrupt the television environment. The ability to transmit content requests, user information and other data upstream will connect television users directly and personally to the vast, networked television infrastructure. While this will make great things possible, television users need a basis for protecting themselves, their experiences and their data in this new environment.
Usage Monitoring
Programmable television controllers (100c) can be programmed to record extensive details regarding a subscriber's television use and interaction. While these technologies are generally being designed to protect the anonymity of individual subscribers, the fact that usage monitoring can occur at all has raised many red flags with privacy and consumer advocacy groups. These groups argue that television usage monitoring at the subscriber's premises is a clear violation of privacy. The industry in turn argues that these technologies will ultimately enable them to provide a better, more relevant, and more interesting product to television subscribers.
Privacy, however, is only one important factor in this debate—a multi-billion-dollar value chain is involved as well. Advertisers pay for exposure to viewers in the form of advertising fees. Television advertising spending in the U.S. was nearly $50 Billion in 2001. Access to the audience is very valuable. Advertisers and media buyers also spend billions of dollars on “audience measurement” data that helps them decide when, where and how to advertise—clearly, information about the audience has great value as well. New technologies being developed for the digital television infrastructure will provide unprecedented access to this audience information. In theory, these new technologies should also improve the distribution of value to the parties involved in the value chain—which includes television users. Further, when asking the question “who owns the usage data?” one very valid answer is “television users themselves.”
The audience measurement industry has historically depended on information collected from randomly selected television households, using technologies that are frequently independent from the television distribution infrastructure itself. For example, the term “Nielsen household” is commonly known to describe a participant in a Nielsen Media Research television audience measurement program. Each of these households has agreed to participate, fills out various consumer-oriented questionnaires for the program, and receives nominal compensation. Further, each of these households has one or more special devices connected to their television sets to measure television usage.
The information gathered from a relatively small sample of households is projected onto the universal television audience. This projection provides audience size estimates, per pre-defined demographic and behavioral characteristics, for particular television programs or networks/channels. These estimates help advertisers to develop their advertising strategies, and are the primary basis for the valuation of television advertising inventories.
The permission sought from and compensation provided to the “Nielsen households” and participants of other such programs acknowledges both the value of their contribution and their “ownership” of their usage data. It remains to be seen how well these acknowledgements will translate to audience measurement technologies in the digitally networked environment.
Prior Art FIG. 300 shows a high-level architecture and data flow model for a usage monitoring system that is based on the digital television infrastructure. A usage monitoring application provider (300a) within either a distributor's application infrastructure (103k) or the external application infrastructure (103n) transmits usage monitoring application data (300b) to a program processor (200g) for one or more programmable television controllers (100c). Alternatively, a usage monitoring application program (300c) might be pre-loaded for execution on the programmable television controller (100c), or might be transmitted to a local networked device (203b) for execution.
The usage monitoring application program (300c) can be configured to monitor and record interaction (200b) of the local audience subset (200a) with the programmable television controller (100c) by essentially tracking audience interaction data signals (200d) transmitted to the programmable television controller (100c) from a user input device (200c). The user input processor (200e) captures and interprets these audience interaction data signals (200d), and transmits data signals representing the resulting passive content selection data (300d), interactive content selection data (300e), or user data (300f) to the usage monitoring application program (300c).
Further, the usage monitoring application (300c) can be configured to monitor and record event data or local device communications (300i) representative of local device usage (300h) for a local networked device (203b) by the local audience subset (200a).
All data signals processed by or accessible to a programmable television controller (100c) or local networked device (203b) are subject to being monitored and recorded. Once recorded, television usage data (300g) and local device usage data (300j) can be transmitted to the usage monitoring application provider (300a), or to another data aggregation facility in the television application infrastructure (103k or 103n).
Numerous variations of this general concept are possible. First, as noted, the application infrastructure (103k or 103n) used to deploy and manage usage monitoring application programs (300c), or to store and process their output (300g, 300j), might be deployed and maintained either within a television distributor's proprietary network (10a) or within an external public or private network (103g), as shown in Prior Art FIG. 103.
Second, a facility with connectivity to the application infrastructure (103k or 103n) might be employed to further aggregate usage monitoring data (300g, 300j) across multiple usage monitoring application providers (300a) and/or data aggregation facilities. Third, data collected by a usage monitoring application program (300c) could be stored or used locally by other application programs in each distinct programmable television controller (100c).
The architecture specifically depicted in Prior Art FIG. 300 is perhaps best captured in U.S. Pat. No. 6,286,140 (Ivanyi), entitled “System and method for measuring and storing information pertaining to television viewer or user behavior.” This patent covers the use of a programmable television controller (100c)—called a “signal receiving device [further comprising] a monitoring device”—to record on/off, channel change, volume change, mute/unmute and user interactive or non-interactive events. While this patent discusses a centralized system for data collection and analysis, it does not go very far into the potential implications or uses of this information. Instead, it captures the fundamental technologies involved in measuring, storing, aggregating and analyzing television usage data.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,801,747 (Bedard), entitled “Method and apparatus for creating a television viewer profile,” describes how television usage data can be used to “determine preferred categories of programming and preferred channels of a viewer,” and further, how to use that information to locally customize television presentations, such as electronic program guides, to specific viewers.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,449,632 (David, et al.), entitled “Apparatus and method for agent based feedback collection in a data broadcasting network,” describes an agent-based system, where individual agents are “operative to create a user profile based on activity of . . . one user,” and where a “user profile subsystem” produces an “integrated user profile” that serves as feedback for a centralized data broadcasting entity.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,457,010 (Eldering, et al.), entitled “Client-server based subscriber characterization system,” describes a way to capture television usage data and correlate it with “programming characteristic vectors,” which are derived from various textual information sources related to the television programming, to form individual subscriber profiles and “additional probabilistic information regarding demographics and programming and product interests.”
U.S. Pat. No. 5,497,185 (Dufresne, et al.), entitled “Remote control system for television audience data gathering,” describes a relatively non-obtrusive method for managing the specification of the current viewing audience for a television receiver. This system assumes willing participation in a particular audience measurement program.
While the prior art introduces the concept of compensation for electronic survey participants (U.S. Patent Application 20010056374, Joao), it does not offer a specific method for the television user to manage his or her preferences related to such participation. Interestingly, the Joao application, while it potentially offers benefits for television users, appears to be a better solution for advertisers and information gatherers.
The digital television revolution makes it technologically possible to create a market for television user participation in audience measurement programs. There is considerable merit to the argument that television usage data, and in particular broadcast (passive) content usage data, is an artifact of a private activity and is therefore property of the user. The argument becomes even stronger if the television user owns the programmable television controller (100c), as shown in Prior Art FIG. 101. Television users need a means for managing and controlling applications that monitor, record, process and distribute their usage data.
The usage data for a particular local television audience (200a) can be employed indirectly in selecting content for automated presentation.
Interactive Television
Bi-directional communications and the internetworking of the digital television infrastructure will provide television users with unparalleled interactive opportunities and experiences. Television users will be able to request content and information on-demand, become more directly involved with television programs or programming providers, and purchase products or services over their television.
Interactive television functions essentially like the World Wide Web. Content is delivered to users on-demand, and virtually any type of relationship can be formed and maintained electronically. Perhaps the most significant difference with interactive television is the amazing persuasive power and emotional capacity of the television medium itself. While advertisers and advertising agencies have become experts at wielding this power, interactive television will further enable them to drive television users toward a purchase or commitment, without ever leaving the medium.
Prior Art FIG. 302 shows a high-level architecture and data flow model for an interactive television system that is based on the digital television infrastructure. An interactive television application provider (302a) within either a distributor's application infrastructure (103k) or the external application infrastructure (103n) transmits interactive television application data (302b) and interactive television content data (302c) to a programmable television controller (100c). Alternatively, the interactive television application program (302d) could be pre-loaded for execution on the programmable television controller (100c), or loaded on the programmable television controller from a local networked device (203b) or a removable storage device (204a).
The interactive television application program (302d) transmits interactive television content data (302c) and user forms data (302f) to the display processor (200i), which then generates display output signals (200j) accordingly for a television display device (200k). User forms data (302f) generally describes the nature of user input options for the local audience subset (200a).
The local audience subset (200a) interacts (200b) with the audiovisual presentations and interfaces (200m) using a user input device (200c) to generate audience interaction data signals (200d). The user input processor (200e) captures and interprets the audience interaction data signals (200d), and transmits the resulting interactive content selection data (302g) or user data (302h) to the interactive television application program (302d).
The local audience subset (200a), if so inclined, can enter user data—including user profile data (302j), identification data (302k) and transaction data (302m)—into user data forms within the interactive television presentation. The interactive television application program (302d) then transmits the appropriate interactive television requests (302i), user profile data (302j), identification data (302k) or transaction data (302m) to the interactive television application provider (302a), or to another data aggregation facility within the application infrastructure (103k, 103n). The interactive television application provider in turn responds with additional application and content data (302b, 302c) as requested, and further fulfills any transactions, products or services requested by the local audience subset (200a).
Interactive television has become well established with the widespread deployment of electronic program guides. Electronic program guide providers have aggressively sought to establish their application interface as the primary access point to the interactive television environment—and for good reason. Interactive television applications and services could ultimately rival the World Wide Web with regard to quantity of content, and could perhaps surpass it with regard to quality of content. Television distributors would prefer to package navigational access to these vast resources in a way that is dependent upon their proprietary infrastructure.
Interactive television, while providing television users with many new capabilities, will also expose television users to many new risks. For example, interactive television application providers can interpret the law as loosely as possible with regard to their use or redistribution of television user data. Further, it is certainly possible that not all interactive television application providers will conduct their related business activities in a responsible or considerate fashion.
Ideally, the digital television environment will seek to improve upon existing electronic commerce capabilities and interactive media environments. Television users need a means to protect themselves, further their interests, and control their personal data in the digital television environment. As the present invention will show, television offers an ideal environment for the purposeful assembly of its users, in the interest of meeting these objectives.